Hi all,

DW-TV has just released a video report on the community owned and operated cellular networks within TIC, the Mexican partner of Rhizomatica.

You can find the (Spanish only) video at https://www.dw.com/es/telefon%C3%ADa-ind%C3%ADgena-en-defensa-del-derecho-a-...

I recommend to watch the full video to catch some glimpses into the life of people in one of the communities operating their own Osmocom based cellular network.

If you don't have the time to follow the full video, some pointers below:

* from 4:35 you can see how the taxi service (the only form of public transport!) can pick up people anywhere in the region after they make a mobile phone call

* from 12:50 onwards, the BTS is introduced, and its role (and that of the BSC) are explained in a nice animation.

* from 18:49 you can see the part covering the role Osmocom and sysmocom are playing in the development of the underlying technology. You can also catch a glimpse of the sysmocom office

Especially for somebody who's never been there in person, it is very enlightening to see more about how people use it. And the technology geek in me of course enjoys the work related to power supply, including the home-made inverter for solar charging (from 16:12)

Let me conclude with the statement that I'm extremely happy about (and proud of) the amazing work that Rhizomatica, TIC and friends are doing. It's great to see Osmocom code being put to use in such a meaningful way, and for what it was crated: To enable people (literally anyone) to operate their own cellular networks in whatever way, independent of large multi-national corporations. There are just very few places where people have actually managed to do this, given all the legal, political, economic constraints, including spectrum licensing.

Thanks to Peter, Keith and his colleagues for dedicating many years to this cause.

Thanks to DW-TV and Eva Usi (the reporter behind this piece).

Further links (in case you weren't aware of those projects/entities): https://www.rhizomatica.org/ https://www.tic-ac.org/

Regards, Harald